A man from Utah charged with threats to castor's courier against Trump, Mattis

(Reuters) – A veteran of the US Navy of Utah was charged Friday for threatening President Donald Trump, Defense Secretary James Mattis, the FBI director and an admiral by sending them letters containing castor seeds, causing the deadly poison of ricin.

The criminal complaint, filed in the US District Court in Salt Lake City, accused William Clyde Allen III of threatening to use a biological toxin as a weapon and four sentencing threats of communication.

Allen, 39, could be sentenced to life, said Melodie Rydalch, spokesman for the US Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City.

He is accused of posting milled castor seeds in separate envelopes, addressed to Trump, Mattis, Christopher Wray, director of the FBI, and Admiral John Richardson, chief of US naval operations. Each envelope contained a note stating "Jack and the anti-missile bean broth powder," according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case.

None of the letters were sent to the recipient, and no one was injured, officials said.

The accused, who ended his four-year naval career in 2002 as a seafarer, was not difficult to find. The envelopes, all bearing the postmark on September 24, bore the name and return address of Allen, says the affidavit.

He was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Logan, Utah, about 83 km north of Salt Lake City, and admitted to sending the letters containing castor beans that he had purchased online, the newspaper said. affidavit.

Allen reportedly told the investigators that he had sent the letters "to send a message" without giving further details.

The FBI stated that each envelope was tested positive for ricin in two different laboratory tests, but neither the complaint nor the affidavit explicitly claimed that they were contaminated with ricin itself.

The Pentagon said the two envelopes intercepted contained only ground castor seeds, which are harmless but triggered the ricin alert.

Extracting ricin from castor beans "is relatively easy and requires no technical expertise" but is dangerous, says the FBI's affidavit.

Tiny doses are lethal to humans if ingested, inhaled or injected, resulting in death within 36 to 72 hours of exposure. There is no known antidote.

The authorities said that Allen had already threatened the government, including an email that he had sent to the CIA in 2015 threatening to kill President Barack Obama, as well as a bomb threat that He had launched against an air base in Texas last year.

During his initial appearance in US court, before a US magistrate in Salt Lake City, Allen was charged with remaining in the custody of the federal marshals until at least the detention hearing was set for October 15, said Rydalch.

No plea has been entered. Lynn Clark Donaldson, a designated public defender to represent him, declined to comment on the case.